“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
--Mark Twain
I know so many people that travel in a bubble, isolating themselves from the authentic culture that surrounds them: it’s so much easier to insulate oneself at the comfortable five star resort, venturing out into the community only from the isolation of the fully chaperoned and air conditioned tour bus.
It’s so much more convenient to accept the Disneyland version of a place, complete with all its stereotypes than to have to deal with the authentic version with its smelly, noisy, nitty gritty messiness.
Not that I advocate going out of one’s way to be uncomfortable, especially on vacation; after all, that’s why we spend all that hard earned vacation money, to pamper ourselves and to relax. No one wants to vacation in a slum.
But there’s a lot to be said about fully connecting with the essence of a place and to experience the foreign as fully as possible, if even for just an afternoon, or just for an hour.
Go ahead.
Tuck into that “iffy” little restaurant. Smile and simply order a coke. People watch. Look open to whatever happens.
Venture down that dusty little narrow street off the beaten path. So what if you get lost for awhile?
You’ll discover that even with a language barrier, most human beings are friendly and delighted that you’ve been willing to explore their little corner of the world.
You just might find, that in spite of a language barrier, most people are as curious about you as you are about them. You just might make a friendship in the bargain.
